Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) adjusts a cowboy hat after being named the Most Valuable Player after the Car Care Bowl NCAA college football game against Northwestern Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Houston. Texas A&M defeated Northwestern 33-22.

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) adjusts a cowboy hat after being named the Most Valuable Player after the Car Care Bowl NCAA college football game against Northwestern Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) adjusts a cowboy hat after being named the Most Valuable Player after the Car Care Bowl NCAA college football game against Northwestern Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in Houston. Texas A&M defeated Northwestern 33-22.

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) adjusts a cowboy hat after being named the Most Valuable Player after the Car Care Bowl NCAA college football game against Northwestern Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, in

The moments, among many others on a joyous New Year's Eve for A&M, partially cleansed the Aggies of a month of turmoil and tragedy. They also served as a reminder, however, of what might have been for a program expecting so much more.

“We needed to play like who we thought we were at the beginning of the season,” senior quarterback Ryan Tannehill said after the Aggies' victory before a partisan A&M crowd of 68,395 at Reliant Stadium. “A high-confidence team that thought we were going to play in the national championship game.”

Tannehill threw for 329 yards and a touchdown and Ben Malena ran for two more TDs to lead the Aggies (7-6) to their first bowl victory in a decade.

A&M (7-6) ranked seventh nationally two weeks into the season, but a series of stumbles spiraled into a 6-6 record. A month ago, A&M president R. Bowen Loftin fired coach Mike Sherman following his 25-25 record over four seasons, and defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter was named interim coach.

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“I really relished the opportunity,” said DeRuyter, Fresno State's new head coach. “To finish off what coach Sherman started and to be here for these guys was big for me.”

The Aggies, playing their final game as Big 12 members and bound for the Southeastern Conference, snapped a five-game bowl losing streak within a football field's length of the site of their last postseason triumph. A&M won the 2001 GalleryFurniture.com Bowl 28-9 over TCU at the Astrodome.

“It would have been easy for our guys today to say this was a lost season and mail it in,” said DeRuyter, who guided A&M in its first meeting with Northwestern (6-7). “They didn't.”

A big reason why came in the form of a fallen teammate.

Three days before Christmas, backup offensive lineman Joey Villavisencio died in a car wreck while headed home to Jacksonville. Both teams wore “67 Joey V” stickers on the backs of their helmets, and the Aggies had dedicated the game to Villavisencio and Sherman.

Before kickoff, the bowl honored Villavisencio with a moment of silence while his family stood with the Aggies' players on their sideline.

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“I can't describe how happy and proud I am of these guys,” DeRuyter said. “They'll always be in my heart, and hopefully, we were able to give some comfort to Joey V's family.”

While the Aggies hadn't won a bowl game in 10 years, Northwestern had it worse. The Wildcats, who rallied from a 30-7 fourth-quarter deficit to make a game of it late, fell short in their bid to win a postseason game for the first time since 1949.

Malena started at running back in place of Cyrus Gray, who ranks third in rushing in A&M history. Gray missed his final game with a stress fracture in his shoulder.

Fuller finished with 119 receiving yards in his last game, and junior Ryan Swope added 105.

Now, Kevin Sumlin, formerly of the University of Houston, takes over as A&M's head coach full time. But the Aggies were able to cherish one last triumph under the old regime — minus Sherman.

“There are so many different levels to this win,” said Tannehill, who was named the Meineke Car Care Bowl MVP. “When we kicked our last field goal, there was such a feeling of joy on the sideline, and guys were hugging each other. That's what you play for.”